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The context of construction management (CM) reveals that this method of procurement is as much a management philosophy as a contract structure. It is important to consider legal and contractual issues in this context. The interplay between management and law is complex and often misunderstood. Before considering specific issues, the use of contractual remedies in business agreements is discussed. In addition, the extent to which standardising a form of contract detracts or contributes to the success of projects is also considered. The dearth of judicial decisions, and the lack of a standard form, render it difficult to be specific about legal issues. Therefore, the main discussion of legal issues is centred around a recently completed research project which involved eliciting the views of a cross‐section of experienced construction management clients, consultants and trade contractors. These interviews are used as the basis for highlighting some of the most important legal points to consider when setting up CM projects. The interviews revealed that the advantage of CM is the proximity of the client to the trade contractors and the disadvantage is that it depends on a high degree of professionalism and experience; qualities which are unfortunately difficult to find in the UK construction industry.

We have witnessed a significant transformation in the world economy and the organisations that comprise it. The economy of old was manufacturing‐based and relied heavily on tangible assets as determinants of value. In contrast, the present‐day economy is based on knowledge and information, intangible assets that are embodied in people. This shift has triggered the development of tools with which to measure these intangible assets. One accounting tool that is directly relevant to the measurement and, in turn, the management of human capital is human resource accounting. The purpose of this article is to discuss some current issues, recent advancements, and possible future directions for further development.

Introduction Consider a hi‐fi loudspeaker manufacturing company acquired on the brink of insolvency by an American multinational. The new owners discover with growing concern that the product range is obsolete, that manufacturing facilities are totally inadequate and that there is a complete absence of any real management substance or structure. They decide on the need to relocate urgently so as to provide continuity of supply at the very high — a market about to shrink at a rate unprecedented in its history.

Following the success of its exobiology radiation assembly (ERA), Sira is gearing up for a European Space Agency (ESA) experiment in the year 2001 on the international space station. This will be the Space Exposure Biological Assembly (SEBA), for which initial study contracts will start early this year, following competitive tendering.

It is just over fifty years since the British government instigated the scheme that was to lead to the setting up of Government Training Centres (GTCs) shortly afterwards.

A new, non‐explosive actuator (NEA) developed by G&H Technology holds tensile loads of up to 12,500lb and quickly releases them when electronically activated. The Model 1203 actuator is stated to be safe, fast‐acting and highly reliable, and release occurs with minimum shock. The actuator is ideal for a wide range of remote actuation requirements such as those found in space, launch vehicle, downhole drilling, undersea and nuclear power applications.

Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Division has won an important first contract to supply tyres to Aeroplex for Malev's fleet of Boeing 767s. The contract was placed by Aerospares Shannon, which was appointed by Aeroplex to provide total initial provisioning for the Boeing 767 account.

An instrument capable of measuring the quality of a lens to better than one‐twentieth of the wavelength of light, has been designed and built by Sira Electro‐optics Division for the Japanese camera and optics specialist, Nikon.

Plans of work for construction projects are published by various interest groups with increasing frequency. Each purports to explain how (all) construction projects should be organized and it can be very difficult to assess their relative benefits and the circumstances most appropriate for their use. Techniques for analysing organizational structures have been available for some decades, but are rarely applied to construction projects. Such techniques can be criticized for omitting non‐structural aspects of project management, such as leadership and other behavioural traits but they are ideal for analysing the strengths and weaknesses of documents describing formal organizational structures. A model for evaluating plans of work is presented and by way of example, a scheme produced by the Construction Industry Board (CIB, UK) is analysed by comparison with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) plan of work. The results show that the CIB scheme does not provide proper guidance for the management of projects, neither does it allocate responsibilities to participants. This analysis shows that such techniques are capable of providing useful benchmarks for assessing the differences between plans of work. They enable impartial assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of different schemes.

Lord Kings Norton is to retire on February 28, 1975 from the board of directors of Berger, Jenson and Nicholson, of which he has been chairman since March 1, 1967. He will be succeeded as chairman by Mr A. J. Hughes and Mr Hughes will be succeeded as group managing director by Mr T. B. Collins.